FROM:
Carla Kacmar, Town Clerk
SUBJECT:
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Town Council Committee Assignment Discussion
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RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Discuss options for appointing Council members to serve on committees and provide direction to staff.
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BACKGROUND
Town Council members serve on a variety of committees, some of which are internal to the Town and some of which are regional. It has been the Council's practice to review the list of appointments each year and make new appointments as desired or needed. This is normally taken up at a meeting after the Council reorganization.
During the 2022 appointment discussion, Council member Burke requested a future agenda item to discuss whether to change the current practice for Council committee assignments. She specifically asked that the Council explore the option of rotating committee assignments to each Council member.
ANALYSIS
Staff surveyed the towns and cities in Marin to determine how committee assignments are handled in each jurisdiction. Fairfax, Belvedere, Tiburon, Larkspur, Novato and San Anselmo currently do not have a rotation policy in place. All of the aforementioned jurisdictions, except Fairfax, address committee assignments for Council consideration after the reorganization meeting. Fairfax only considers Council assignments when a new council member is sworn in.
In Ross, Corte Madera and Sausalito, the Mayor has more control over the appointment process. In Ross, the Mayor checks with each Council member to see if they want to change the committees they are on, makes any necessary changes and then brings it to a Council meeting for final approval. In Sausalito and Corte Madera, the Mayor makes appointments to committees after the annual reorganization, but normally does not change a committee assignment unless there is a vacancy.
Staff researched committee appointment policies from other cities in California and found that the available written policies are similar to Ross and Sausalito w...
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